Elmidath looked out at the ogres from the window, the hulking creatures were lazing about in the garden beside the manor, and frowned. “Damn things will be eating me out of house and home soon enough. I kind of hope they end up dead while we’re hunting down this warlord, I don’t think I can afford to keep them if they survive. Things are only just starting to get back to their proper order around here, the last thing I need is these oafs messing the place up.”

I snorted. “What happened to not wanting to get them killed?”

“That was before I realised how much it was going to cost.” With a little flourish, she turned away from the window. “I’m not saying I actually want them to die… just that it would be convenient.”

“You should relax more.” I reclined on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. “Aren’t you happy about your new alliance?”

“Our new alliance, and I’m moderately satisfied with it. It’s just that as soon as whoever he decides to send gets here, we’ll be back out there, hunting through the wilderness for a warlord who may or may not even still be around here.”

“What makes you think he might not be there?”

Elmidath threw up her hands in frustration and dropped into one of the chairs. “Because he failed in what I hope was a major invasion. There’s no guarantee he’s even alive, let alone still here.”

That made sense, it hadn’t occurred to me that we might be going on a wild goose chase. I suppose I couldn’t expect demons to stay loyal after such a disaster. “Should we even be trying to hunt this guy down then? Sounds like it might just be a waste of time.”

Elmidath sighed. “Much as I’d like to stay here, we can’t risk leaving this other Demon Lord alive to threaten us in the future.”

Whichever path we chose, there was the risk of disastrous consequences, but I suppose it was better to be proactive. If we were destroyed in the field while pursuing him, then things would likely have gone as badly if we’d stayed home. If that was the case, then we may as well try to destroy this threat before it could cause any further harm. Having to commit to such an important decision made me nervous, but there was nothing else for it. I’d just have to suck it up and own the choice we went with.

“Okay, fine. I agree. Let’s track down whoever was behind this attack. At least we have the ogres to help when it comes to the actual fighting.” I hadn’t yet seen them in combat but I assumed they’d be an asset, they certainly looked imposing. “Any idea how we’re going to find this guy?”

Elmidath shrugged. “There’s not a lot out there, it should be easy to track him. Especially if he still has any of those Tertiums with him. Any other questions?”

I shook my head.

“Good, now that that’s settled, I’m thinking of going down below again. Care to join me?”

The thought of going back there didn’t exactly fill me with joy but I suppose it was worth seeing what they were up to. “Sure.”

The walk was as long as before but now that we knew what was down it made for a much more relaxing trip. Not having to worry about Elmidath’s uncle or the bomb around my neck didn’t hurt either. In fact, compared to last time, it was practically a stroll in the park. Minus the sunlight and fresh air. Who needed those, anyway? When instead you could be stuck in a series of dark, claustrophobia-inducing tunnels.

It occurred to me that I could have had Elmidath make the first half of the journey on her own and then teleported to her, but I doubted she’d appreciate that. I don’t think she liked being down here anymore than I did, having to go on her own would probably just make it even more unpleasant. It didn’t strike me as a smart move, particularly considering that we’d so recently had a falling out.

To pass the time and help me stop focusing on our unpleasant environs, I struck up a conversation. “Korzan seems to have done a good job managing the place while we were gone.” Elmidath made a noncommittal sound and I changed the subject. “Is there anything in particular you’re looking for down here?”

“Not really. I just thought I should see what Tagath is up to. That, and I should have another chat with that snake. It’ll still be a while before I can get those gems it wanted.”

Oh, right. The snake. I’d forgotten all about the giant serpent living down here and Elmidath’s deal with them. There were so many deals flying around these days, it was hard to keep it all straight. Especially when there were rather more pressing concerns to attend to, such as avoiding death.

It would be sort of nice to see Tagath again, at least. I can’t say I have any particular fondness for him but he was a lot more pleasant than the other demons I’d met, even Korzan. Tagath’s workshop was much as I remembered it, though possibly a little messier. He was standing beside one of the benches, eating a bowl of something, when we entered. Swallowing, he gave us a little wave. “Hey.”

Elmidath stepped forward, smiling cordially. “Hello. How’re things going down here?”

“Not bad, not bad.” He set down his bowl and gestured to the room around him. “There’s a lot of work to be done still but that’s hardly unusual. Things any better up there?”

“They’re coming along.”

“I see, that’s good to hear.” He looked between Elmidath and I. “Is there something in particular you want? Or is this just a social visit?”

Leaning against one of the benches, Elmidath looked around. “I was wondering what you were working on. We didn’t get much chance to talk about what you were doing in a broader sense previously and I want to change that.”

“Oh, alright. I’m currently working on a powerful dissolvent. I’m still working out the formula, but I believe it to be capable of dissolving stone, let alone softer substances. Though I still need to test how it interacts with different metals.”

He continued his long-winded explanation which I don’t think I understood most of, but it also didn’t sound very important. Elmidath seemed to share my opinion as she asked only a few cursory questions. Once he was done explaining, they exchanged parting pleasantries and we went to see the giant snake.

Hanging out with monstrous serpents wasn’t exactly high on my list of priorities, but neither was them getting pissed off that we didn’t hold up our end of the deal and deciding to eat us. In fact, between the two I definitely preferred the former.

It didn’t keep us waiting this time or try to surprise us, surfacing from its watery home as we entered. Skin glistening, its expressionless reptilian features looked down at the two interlopers before it.

“Have you brought my payment?” From its toned it sounded like it was tired of waiting. Not that I could blame it, I couldn’t even remember how much time had passed since we first made the agreement.

Staying close to me, Elmidath licked her lips. “No, not yet.” Before the creature could respond, she hurriedly continued. “But I’ll have them for you as soon as possible. Due to my uncle’s negligence, my home was very nearly destroyed. Until the present threats are dealt with, I cannot honour our agreement.”

A loud hiss filled the room and the snake raised its head until it was nearly scraping the ceiling. “You came down here just to tell me that? Do you think this is acceptable?”

“I don’t. But I have no other option available to me. Believe me, this is not at all how I’d like for things to have gone but I had little choice in the matter.”

“I’m sure your excuses are very fine. Very trustworthy.” It began to sink back into its pool. “I was a fool to trust your kind.” With those parting words, it vanished beneath the surface of the water. Neither of us spoke until we left the snake’s chamber behind. I cleared my throat. “Well, that could have gone worse.”

Elmidath sighed. “I suppose. I can’t say I’m very satisfied with the result.”

“It’s better than it trying to eat us though. Does this mean the deal is cancelled then?”

“Maybe, it’s hard to say. I hope not, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any point in returning until I have what they want. Still, it didn’t seem like they were planning on taking revenge. Not yet, at least.”

The thought of having a creature like that living below our home that had it out for us didn’t sit well with me. It was enough to give someone nightmares. “We can worry about it later. Why don’t we figure out everything we’ll need to take along on this hunt?”

“You’re right, we should focus on the things we can change.”

We spent the walk back talking about the supplies we might need. All we came up with in the end was a list of fairly mundane supplies but it was something we had to do at some point. Most of the specifics were easy enough to figure out with the exception of food.

Not knowing how many soldiers to expect, we agreed it was probably best to just prepare as much as possible. Especially given how much the ogres ate. Once we were back on the surface, we sprang into action getting everything ready. I can’t speak for Elmidath but I suspect she was feeling much the same as I was; full of nervous energy without much to do with it. Once we were done, all that was left was the long wait for Biustarn’s forces.